The man who stands accused of being the notorious Long Island Serial Killer is dealing with unspecified health issues, Us Weekly can confirm.
Rex Heuermann was a no-show Tuesday, March 17, for a hearing in his ongoing criminal case on Long Island.
The hearing proceeded as planned, and afterwards, Heuermann’s attorney, Michael Brown, told reporters that his client has been using crutches for little over a month.
Heuermann, 59, is dealing with some health issues, Brown said.
“So, in view of the fact that this was only going to be a submission date, and we had a lengthy conversation yesterday by telephone, we agreed we would waive his appearance for today’s purposes,” Brown said.
When pressed about Heuermann’s health, Brown demurred. “I’m not at liberty to discuss,” he said, after being specifically asked if he’d slipped and fell in jail. “He has some health issues, so that’s what we’re dealing with, so at this point in time I thought it was probably better for him to just stay at the jail.”
The next court date in Heuermann’s case is set for April 8.
Heuermann, who was married and has two adult children, was arrested in July 2023 outside his Manhattan office in connection to three of the Gilgo Beach murders.
Heuermann has since been charged with the murders of Valerie Mack, 24; Jessica Taylor, 20; Megan Waterman, 22; Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25; Sandra Costilla, 28; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27.
He has pleaded not guilty to all seven murder charges. Investigators are still trying to connect Heuermann to two other bodies that were found dumped at Gilgo Beach.
Investigators spent weeks at Heuermann’s house, collecting evidence, including a stockpile of guns.
Earlier this year, Peacock released a documentary about Heuermann and his family called The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets, executive produced by rapper 50 Cent.
The docuseries featured Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, and their kids. Ellerup filed for divorce weeks after Heuermann’s arrest.
In the doc, Ellerup had difficulty accepting her husband could be Long Island’s most infamous serial killer.
“Nobody deserves what they got. But Rex was not seeing [sex workers]. He’s a family man. He didn’t do this,” Ellerup claimed. “I would need to hear it from Rex face to face that he killed these girls for me to believe it. My husband never kept me out of anything.”
Heuermann is being held at the Riverhead Correctional Facility on Long Island as he awaits trial, which is scheduled to begin in September after Labor Day.
